We often mistake intelligence for wisdom, but only goodness helps us see reality as it truly is.

I had to tell a Catholic woman I know, a kind and thoughtful woman, that someone she had known had been a sex abuser. “But how could he have been?” she said, mentioning how nice he had been, and then added, “He was so smart.”

That wasn’t so odd a response as it may seem. We Americans, I think, tend to connect intelligence with insight and wisdom, as if having the first meant having the second, and to connect insight and wisdom with goodness. It’s more instinct and attitude than conviction. We think of Doctor Who more than of Dr. Frankenstein, Gandalf and Galadriel more than Sauron and Saruman. I’ve heard and read a lot of people say what the Catholic woman said.

The most famous, indeed notorious, example is the collective “best and brightest” who led America into the Vietnam War. The only aspect of their characters that made them the “best,” as they were called at the time, was being part of America’s intellectual elite. They were “best” because “brightest,” but it turned out that in trying to shape the world to America’s demands, they weren’t that bright, because they weren’t wise or good enough to see that they couldn’t control the world the way they thought they could.

The Limits of Intelligence​

Continued below.

Uganda’s defense authorities have confirmed that a priest serving the Catholic Diocese of Masaka, whose disappearance earlier this month sparked concern and prayers from the bishop, is in the custody of security forces over alleged criminal activities.

In a Dec. 12 statement, the acting director of defense public information, Col. Chris Magezi, said Father Deusdedit Ssekabira was arrested in connection with what the military says is “involvement in violent subversive activities against the state.”

Magezi added that Ssekabira is being held as investigations continue. “Reverend Father Deusdedit Ssekabira is currently in lawful custody to assist with further investigations into the matter,” the Ugandan defense official further said.

According to Magezi, the case will proceed through formal judicial channels. “He will be produced in the courts of law and charged accordingly,” he said in his one-page statement but did not provide further details on the alleged activities or the duration of the investigation.

Continued below.

Pastors Justin and Kasey Greenwell have resigned from their positions as online pastors at Greg Locke’s Global Vision Bible Church (GVBC), in Lebanon, Tennessee, alleging spiritual abuse and a lack of spiritual and financial accountability. They have called upon Locke to repent. Locke denies the allegations, maintains the church is financially transparent, and says that he has already repented of what he needs to repent of.

Locke is known for brash, controversial preaching, including telling congregants not to wear masks in 2021, claiming in 2022 that children with autism are under demonic attack, and calling for Catholic items and games like Dungeons and Dragons and Pokémon to be burned.

The pastor has received criticism and even death threats over the years. In September 2024, his home was subjected to a drive-by shooting while his daughter (who ended up unharmed) was inside.

Greenwells’ Letter to Greg Locke Alleges Lack of Accountability​

Continued below.

Pastors Resign From Greg Locke’s Church, Allege Spiritual Abuse; Locke Disputes Claims

Pastors Justin and Kasey Greenwell have resigned from their positions as online pastors at Greg Locke's Global Vision Bible Church.

churchleaders.com

Apologist Frank Turek recently offered his perspective on whether Christians should attend the wedding of a family member who cheated on his previous spouse.

Turek is an author and podcaster. He is the founder and president of the Christian apologetics ministry CrossExamined, and he is the author or co-author of several books, including “I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be an Atheist.”

Turek spoke to the issue of divorce and remarriage in the context of a reply to an audience member’s question at a speaking event.

The questioner explained, “My brother committed adultery against his wife, and they got a divorce. And then my brother then wanted, sometime later, to marry the person that he committed adultery with. And he wanted me to come to his wedding, and I told him that I would not come to his wedding.”

Continued below.

Christian leaders and influencers have been quick to blast President Donald Trump’s comments that followed the murder of beloved filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner (78) and his wife, film producer Michele Singer Reiner (68).

According to reports, Rob and Michele were allegedly murdered by their 32-year-old son, Nick, on the afternoon of Sunday (Dec. 14). One of Reiner’s daughters alerted authorities after discovering Rob and Michele in their home with both of their throats slit. Nick was later arrested and is being held without bond. Rob was previously married to actor Penny Marshall from 1971-1981. He married Michele in 1989.

Reiner is known for directing the films “A Few Good Men,” “The Princess Bride,” “Misery,” “Stand by Me,” “This Is Spinal Tap,” “When Harry Met Sally,” and “The American President.”

Continued below.

Nicki Minaj has continued to raise awareness on social media about the plight of persecuted Nigerian Christians who've been enduring attacks for years, which some Christian groups have decried as a genocide the world has ignored for far too long.

Minaj posted a series of comments on Xlast Friday expressing support for Christians in Nigeria who are facing ongoing persecution. In her first post, Minaj declared: “On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other grounds is sinking sand. All other ground … is sinking sand.”

“FREE THE CHRISTIANS IN NIGERIA!” she exclaimed, accompanied by several emojis of the Nigerian flag. “STOP THIS NOW!”

Continued below.

Pray Christians Emphasize Private & Corporate Devotion & Worship over the Serious Mistake of finding False counsel/peace in AI:

An Anglican Church in North America bishop has been found not guilty by an ecclesiastical court of mishandling abuse cases in his diocese.

According an ACNA press release from Monday evening, Bishop Stewart Ruch III of the Anglican Diocese of the Upper Midwest, which is based in Wheaton, Illinois, was found not guilty on the charges of "Habitual neglect of episcopal duties," "Conduct giving scandal, including abuse of ecclesiastical power," "Violation of ordination vows" and "Disobedience to canons."

“The Court unanimously found Bishop Ruch not guilty on all four charges, citing the prosecution’s failure to meet the canonical burden of proving the charges by clear and convincing evidence," stated ACNA.

Continued below.

I was teaching an undergraduate colloquium on critical theory at the University of Notre Dame when the news broke of Tucker Carlson’s interview with Nick Fuentes.

The timing was interesting because the colloquium’s final document for discussion was a 2023 Hedgehog Review essay by Malloy Owen. Owen traces the fascinating migration of critical theory — a family of philosophies often associated with the Left — to the Right of the political spectrum. Even a superficial glance at contemporary political discourse indicates the plausibility of this thesis. The rhetoric birthed by critical theory (“It is all about power,” “Established institutions are ineradicably corrupt and need to be torn down,” and “Everything you have been told is a lie”) is obviously no longer a monopoly of the Left.

Owen mentions Carlson, although it may be generous to attribute his Fuentes interview to intellectual commitments. The gig media economy favors pundits who are prepared to transgress boundaries; their exchange had no real intellectual substance. The two men commiserated with each other over how they had been victimized by establishment conspiracies, and Carlson avoided anything approaching a question that might have challenged Fuentes’s well-documented views on the Jews and on Hitler. Indeed, even Fuentes’s claim to be a fan of Stalin merited no exploration. The interview was all very therapeutic and hardly a replay of Chomsky vs. Foucault.

Yet it also revealed how some on the Right are indulging in the same critical theoretical games as those on the Left.

Continued below.

Pope Leo XIV said Wednesday true satisfaction is found not in the accumulation of money or things, or by “too much doing,” but by returning to Jesus Christ, the source of hope, love, and joy.

“We are absorbed by many activities that do not always leave us satisfied … We have to assume responsibility for many commitments, solve problems, face difficulties,” the pope said at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square Dec. 17.

“Yet,” he added, “we often perceive how too much doing, instead of giving us fulfillment, becomes a vortex that overwhelms us, takes away our serenity, and prevents us from living to the fullest what is truly important in our lives.”

In his catechesis, the pontiff stressed that the true value of life is not measured by “days full of activities” or economic success.

Continued below.

When a pregnant woman at an abortion facility heard distant carolers singing “Silent Night,” she got up and left.

The mother, back in 2003, decided to keep her baby after a pro-life group’s first Christmas caroling event outside a Chicago abortion clinic struck her heart.

“The memories of Christmases past stirred in her and she decided she couldn’t go through with the abortion and kept her child,” said Matthew Yonke, a spokesman for the Pro-Life Action League, the group that coordinates these events.

She would be the first of many women who chose life after hearing carols. Now, the tradition extends across the nation — and babies continue to be saved.

As Christmas Day approaches, nearly 100 caroling groups across the U.S. are gathering at various abortion facilities to sing.

Continued below.

In a strongly secular European Union, the Balkans’ complex religious reality plays an important role as officials and diplomats gather on Wednesday to discuss the membership plans for six nations.

The EU-Western Balkans summit on Dec. 17 brings together European Union representatives and their counterparts from six Western Balkan nations: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia.

As officials discuss EU enlargement and current challenges, religious leaders and analysts underscore that the churches — deeply woven into the region’s national identities, geopolitics, and social fabric — will be crucial to the success of both European integration and regional stability.

The EU considers itself the main trading partner, investor, and donor for the Western Balkans and provides substantial assistance and financial support to the region. However, the religious landscape — marked by Orthodox majorities, significant Muslim populations, and Catholic minorities — reflects complex historical, ethnic, and political tensions that shape the region’s future.

Continued below.

Whether at the beginning of a new liturgical year, or any other time during the year, we can benefit from taking a look at where we are spiritually. Looking over the past months or year, where have I cooperated with God’s grace and taken advantage of spiritual growth opportunities that He’s given me? Am I on or off the path to sanctity?

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A U.K. Supreme Court ruling has found that Christian religious education taught in schools in Northern Ireland is unlawful.

In its judgment, the court found that the current approach lacks an “objective, critical, and pluralistic” framework and leans more toward indoctrination than fostering a diverse understanding of beliefs.

Responding to the ruling, which does not apply to Catholic schools, Bishop Alan McGuckian, SJ, of the Down and Connor Diocese firmly challenged the idea that Christianity should be given no priority in all schools, stating that anyone seeking to do so is “cutting off their nose to spite their face.”

The landmark ruling follows a case brought by an unnamed father and his daughter who attended a non-Catholic state-controlled primary school in Belfast. The girl received nondenominational Christian religious education and took part in Christian worship.

Continued below.

It is also important for us Catholics to be careful lest we too approach the sacraments as a way to avoid the deep conversion of heart that the Lord demands from us. We too can attend many Masses, say many prayers, and receive the sacrament of Reconciliation while holding onto our sins and sinful tendencies. We can use these sacramental rites as a way of feeling good about ourselves without allowing God to actually transform our hearts from within.

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Although “papal fashion,” meticulously crafted down to the smallest detail, has evolved over time, the popes’ attire still holds profound symbolism that continues to capture the attention of many.

Proof of this is the recent naming of Pope Leo XIV as one of the 55 best-dressed people of 2025 by Vogue magazine, one of the most prestigious and recognized fashion and beauty publications in the world.

Pope Leo XIV shares this distinction with athletes, actors, singers, politicians, and models, including Rosalía, Rihanna, Bad Bunny, actress Jennifer Lawrence, and tennis player Venus Williams.

The American magazine, founded in 1892, highlights in its annual ranking that Leo XIV has broken “with the humble tastes of his predecessor,” Pope Francis, preserving “the papal legacy of impeccably crafted liturgical vestments.”

Continued below.

Every so often we must examine our intellectual patterns of thinking with the humility to admit that we can be wrong—and the wisdom to know where firm certainties of truth are found.

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I’m hearing demonic voices in my mind again. God is with me, but please pray that Jesus Christ makes the evil spirits go away, be silent and leave me alone forever and not come back and that Jesus Christ ends demonic oppression or whatever this is for me forever, and that Jesus Christ does this as soon as possible preferably right now. Agreeing in prayer in Jesus Christ’s name, Amen. Thank you.

hmmm... I wonder, had he been Cau--- nah, never mind!




What say you?

From and article first published back in 2018 by Rev. Dr. Timothy Teuscher, our Lutheran Church Canada President. Since then, a lot has happened in the world, and yet our National Bishop's message is as relevant now as it was then.

"...in order to put Christ back into Christmas, we need, above all, to put the “Mass” back into Christmas. After all, that is what the word “Christmas” literally means: “the Mass of Christ.”
St Peters Ev. Lutheran, Stratford Ontario, 2024.



Full article can be found here:

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www.canadianlutheran.ca

Blessings and peace to all!!

From and article first published back in 2018 by Rev. Dr. Timothy Teuscher, our Lutheran Church Canada President. Since then, a lot has happened in the world, and yet our National Bishop's message is as relevant now as it was then.

St Peters Ev. Lutheran, Stratford Ontario, 2024.

Full article can be found here:

Blessings and peace to all!!

Please pray for my mother who might have pneumonia. Her lungs are squeaky when she breathes, and she was really bad off when she woke up yesterday morning but after a bit she got a little better. Her oxygen level seems to be dropping while she sleeps, according to her watch. I can't get her to go to the hospital, but also most of the time she seems fine, but I can see this getting worse if more fluid builds up in her lungs while she's sleeping. Please pray for God to heal her.

This is not a condemnation against all judging, but it is against hypocritical judging. For the Bible teaches that we should not judge unjustly, by human standards, by comparing others to ourselves, in hate, with wrong motives, and/or prejudicially, but we are to judge righteously. So, this is like “the pot calling the kettle black,” i.e. when those who are guilty of certain sins stand in condemnation against others who are guilty of the same exact sins.

[Matthew 7:1-5; John 7:24,51; John 8:15-16; Romans 2:3; Galatians 6:1-5; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 2 Corinthians 10:12; James 5:19-20; Jude 1:22-23]

And it might not be the exact same sin, technically speaking, but in the same category. For example a heterosexual might condemn someone for being in a homosexual relationship but while that person is engaged in adultery and sexual immorality of a different nature. For that person might be a porn addict, and all that comes along with porn addiction, but while that person will look down upon and condemn a homosexual relationship.

And this is about people who make sin their practice. All sin is wrong, but it is those who practice sin who are condemned by God, i.e. those who deliberately and habitually return to the same sins over again and do not change course. They always return to their vomit without conscience, and without remorse, and without concern for who gets hurt in the process. For their god is their flesh, and feeding the flesh overcomes all else.


And we are talking here about many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ but who are not living holy lives, pleasing to God, in walks of surrender to the will of God in obedience to his commands. But they are still walking in sin, making sin their practice, and not obedience to God. For they are those who are stubborn and unrepentant in heart and mind, many of whom are convinced that their habitual sins will not hinder their eternal life with God.

But Paul, as led by the Holy Spirit, makes it clear here that God is going to render to each person according to his deeds. For those who persevere in doing the good that God requires of us, we will have eternal life with God. But for those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth of God’s word, his gospel, but who obey unrighteousness, instead, they will face the wrath and indignation of God, and they will not have eternal life with God.

For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” For not everyone who calls Jesus “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God the Father in heaven (see Titus 2:11-14; Matthew 7:21-23).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

Living Water

An Original Work / November 21, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Based off Various Scriptures

My people have forsaken Me,
Their Savior, who died on a tree;
Made idols, and they worshipped them;
So empty, they will ne’er fulfill.

Lord, You are the hope of Your chosen ones.
Those who turn away from You will be shamed;
The Spring of Living Water left behind.

Living Water satisfies.

The thirsty, let them come and drink;
Believe in Jesus as their King;
The gift of Jesus given them,
So they will never thirst again.

Indeed, the Living Water flows within.
It springs up like a fountain cleansing sin.
Eternal life in heaven promised them.

Living Water glorifies.

Oh people, won’t you come to Him?
Obey Him and repent of sin.
Let Jesus come and live within.
Surrender all your life to Him.

My people, won’t you turn your hearts to Me?
Forsake your idols and then you’ll be free.
Won’t you come now to Me on bended knee?

Living Water sanctifies.

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Hypocritical Judging
An Original Work / December 17, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Hello,

i created a thread a few months ago on this forum, asking muslim Allah to kill me if He does exist. The thread was moderated and closed.
I read someone mentionning on the thread a killing in England the day after this of its creation. No other substantial reply

i created a few days ago, on the "kitchen sink" as well, a thread questionning about the moral purpose of the veiling. No reply either, but i heard about a killing, the day after it was created in Australia.

Do you think, please, it's just my paranoïa, or it could be more than a coincidence between these killings and the threads ?
(Actually, it's just that the killings makes me more and more doubting muslim Allah exists, and moral arguing also for veiling)

Just because we make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ with our lips, it does not mean that we are saved from our sins, and that we have eternal life with God. For Jesus taught that to come to him in faith we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow him in obedience to his commands. And the Scriptures teach that if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, and if we do not repent of sin and obey God, that we don’t know God, and we do not have eternal life with God.

Whether or not we make verbal confessions of Christ as Lord, we cannot live in deliberate and habitual sin against God, making sin our practice, and not obedience to the Lord, and then claim, “We didn’t know.” For it is made very clear to us here in Romans 1 that God has revealed himself to all humankind through his created works so that we are all without excuse if we choose our sinful practices over God. For the wrath of God is against all ungodliness of humans who suppress the truth about God in unrighteousness.

Now, we cannot know God intimately, in a sense of being in a relationship with him, unless we, by faith in him, have died with him to sin and we are now walking in obedience to his commands. And this is not saying that we will never sin again (1 John 2:1-6), but that sin should no longer be our practice, our habit, and what we keep returning to over again willfully and deliberately because we want the sin more than we want to be in a relationship with God. But we are all aware of God and who he is.

So, according to this Scripture, all who choose to walk in sin, and to live sinful lifestyles, do not do so in total ignorance, thinking that what they are doing is right and good, and not evil. Now they may make excuses for their sinful lifestyles, and for their wrong choices, but it is not out of complete ignorance of right from wrong. It is out of a choice to ignore what they know about God, to not honor him for who he is, and a choice to exchange what they know about God so as to follow after the gods of this world, instead.

And this includes many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ with their lips, but whose hearts are far from God, for they are still living according to the flesh, doing what their flesh desires, and their lives are not surrendered to God to doing his will. Sin still has control over their lives, and not God, so they still choose their sins over God on a habitual basis. And for many of them, it appears, their predominant sins are sexually immoral in nature, particularly related to porn addiction and to what all else that entails.

Therefore, God gives them over to the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. So, they end up doing what is dishonorable, improper, immoral, wicked, and dishonest. And so they end up getting involved in extramarital affairs, some of which may be of a homosexual nature, and/or they become addicted to pornography of many kinds with all sorts of distortions of what is considered normal. And so they become filled with all wickedness, even knowing it means death, not life.

And sadly, so much of what is taught today as “the gospel of Christ” is not of Christ Jesus at all, but that which comes straight from the heart of Satan. For so many are teaching that all that God requires is that we make a verbal confession of him as Lord, and we believe in his death and resurrection, and now salvation from sin and eternal life with God are guaranteed us, but regardless of how we live. And so many people are being given liberty to keep on in sin and are convinced they don’t have to obey God’s commands.

But Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

So, please take this to heart. Faith in Jesus Christ is not liberty to live however we want in disobedience to our Lord and to his commands. If sin is what we practice, and not obedience to God, we will not see God.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

For Our Nation

An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Recording Via Gerry Peters, music producer and arranger

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.

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Their Foolish Hearts
An Original Work / December 17, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love